


Puddleducks

by itsfaberrytaboo (orphan_account)



Series: Wide Green Eyes [11]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Bigs and littles are known, Complete Love and Adoration, Diapers, F/F, Fluff, No Angst, Non-Sexual Age Play, Wetting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-03
Updated: 2017-09-03
Packaged: 2018-12-23 12:06:34
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,008
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11989461
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/itsfaberrytaboo
Summary: “Couple of rules,” she said, pointing her finger at her baby. “You have to eat a sandwich and chips before you can have anything sweet. Only one can of soda. Only two cookies, and you cannot eat the whole bag of gummy worms.”“Mama, that was more than a couple rules.”--Maria and her baby go to the lake for a much-needed day of fluff and fun.





	Puddleducks

“Where we goin’?”

“It’s a surprise,” Maria answered patiently, for the third time in the last half hour. She glanced over at the little girl in the passenger seat, smiling fondly at Natasha in her shorts and tee-shirt, and the light up tennis shoes Maria had bought her last week.

“We there yet?”

“Nope.” Maria shook her head; if she was frustrated about being asked _that_ question four times since they’d gotten in the car, her voice didn’t show it. “Only fifteen more minutes though, bunny, we’ll be there soon.”

The answer seemed to satisfy the baby, but it wasn’t thirty seconds later that she piped up again.

“Mama?”

“Hmm?”

“Tony said ‘be home by two.’”

Maria quirked an eyebrow and looked at the time. It was already eleven-thirty. “And why does Tony say to be home by two?”

Natasha gave a shrug. “He say we have to play blocks.”

“Oh does he?” Maria laughed, then reached out to pat Natasha’s knee. “Well, Tony will just have to do without you today. He has Steve and Clint, and besides, _I_ want to play with my bunny.”

They’d been through too much already, and they hadn’t even been bonded that long, Maria thought as she navigated their car toward her secret destination. It was true that some things were going well: they had their new house together, for one thing. But she’d been shot, Natasha had been captured by what Steve had termed “discount HYDRA,” and it seemed as if Maria and Natasha were constantly on the move to one mission or another. Both of them knew that it was the nature of who they were, but they were _also_ a two-year-old little, and a caregiver. They’d managed to find the time here and there to take care of their needs, but today, Maria was determined to _make_ time.

She’d put Sam in charge for the day, which probably pissed off Cap a little, but Maria didn’t care. She’d _intended_ to put Steve in charge, and that would be all that mattered once she explained it to him. But she’d walked into the kitchen to get things ready for her day with Natasha, and Steve had been sat at the table absently eating Cheerios, already so deep into his little headspace that Maria hadn’t had the heart to jerk him out of it by putting SHIELD on his shoulders. Again.

Let Captain America have a day off too, she’d reasoned.

“I want my toys,” Natasha suddenly complained, which only served to make Maria grin in anticipation. Usually when they went somewhere, even if it was just to the grocery store, Natasha got to take at least one toy with her. Maria made sure to keep at least one of the little girl’s favorite cardboard books on hand, if Natasha was big but might happen to slip into her baby mindset before they got home. But today Maria had forbidden it, which had _almost_ resulted in an all-out, raging Natasha Romanoff temper tantrum, only headed off by Maria promising her that what awaited her at the end of their drive together would be so exciting and so, so much fun.

… Maria really hoped it lived up to her promise, because if there was one thing she hated to do, it was disappoint her little one.

“We’re almost there,” Maria reassured, pulling the car off onto the last exit leading to her surprise. She maybe should have chosen someplace closer, but here Maria knew they would be left alone. And an hour’s distance away would at least encourage her not to check her phone every five minutes, worried that something was going down without her there. She might even convince herself to leave her phone in the car.

“An’ I’m hungry. I want a cookie. Five cookies. _Ten_ cookies.”

Maria laughed, which made Natasha grin a little despite her apparent grumpiness. Even being hungry and without her toys, Maria could see that Natasha’s eyes were wide with expectation, a hopeful thrill of whatever excitement Maria may be presenting her with. Maria Hill found that she lived for that expression. She lived for making Natasha happy. Truth be told it was a lot easier keeping baby Natasha happy than it was keeping bigger Natasha happy. Bigger Natasha was moody and not exactly prone to expressing her feelings, which when coupled with Maria’s own tendency to approach everything as a mission, didn’t make relationships easy. Their arguments were usually heated and raw, normally ending in a stalemate which Natasha tried to break with sex. Maria wasn’t having that, though. She’d make Natasha actually _talk_ things through.

“We might be soul mates,” she’d say, “but I can’t read your damn mind.”

Keeping baby Natasha happy, though? Piece of cake. Almost literally. As long as her tummy was full and she had her toys and her pacifier – and a clean diaper – Natasha as a two year old almost appeared to not need anything at all. Maria knew better, but it was still just _so easy_ to be Natasha Romanoff’s mama. She wouldn’t say it was effortless, but there wasn’t really any difficulty at all in cuddling Natasha, or giving her a bottle, or sitting on the floor and playing with her. Maria had been so uncertain at first; now… she could almost say she’d been born to love Natasha.

“You are not getting ten cookies,” she said, slowing the car down as their destination came in sight just ahead of them. “You might get one though, in a little while. We’re here, baby, look.”

Natasha pushed against the seat belt as she leaned forward, and the little gasp that escaped her lips made Maria smile.

The lake widened before them, vast and gleaming in the sun. It wasn’t exactly calm, the paddleboats and people swimming causing the water to ebb and flow in choppy waves. The sound of happy littles and their caregivers mingled with another sound that Maria was sure to entice Natasha – that of a group of ducks that lingered near one end of the lake, greedily scooping up the bread that was thrown to them.

“Mama! Mama, is wake?!” Natasha said, slipping into a bit of baby talk with her excitement.

“That’s right,” Maria agreed. “It’s the lake. And guess what we’re going to do?”

“What? What do, what do?”

She was bouncing in her seat, and Maria chuckled as she parked the car, then unbuckled her seatbelt. She reached across to unbuckle Natasha’s, then touched her cheek.

“ _We_ ,” she declared, leaning forward and bumping their noses together, “Are going to have a _picnic_.”

It was number 10 on Maria’s list of Things Natasha Wanted to Do. She’d started keeping it just after they had bonded, because it quickly became apparent that there were so many things Natasha hadn’t ever experienced, because she’d never actually been a child. So far Maria had been able to mark off Birthday Party, Baking, See a Kid’s Movie in the Theater, and Play Hide and Seek. And though Maria knew Natasha had loved all of them, and Maria had too, they had done it all with the other Avengers and their caregivers. Maria wanted an experience off their list that was just for her and her baby girl.

She’d heard about the lake, maybe from another agent, and it had sounded perfect for a day’s getaway. There were picnic shelters all around the lake, but there were also places you could sit around the water’s edge and eat, if you didn’t mind a wayward duck coming to ask for your food. Maria didn’t think Natasha would mind one bit.

Natasha still seemed to be staring at the lake in shock, so Maria just shook her head and got out of her side of the car, then moved to open Natasha’s door and take her hand, leading the little girl out.

“Why don’t we see what we’ve got in the trunk, hm? I have a lot of stuff for us today.”

“What kinda stuff, mama?” Natasha asked, already eagerly bounding to the back of the car.

“Well, let’s see.” Maria made a great show of trying to find her key, then pretending not to know how it worked in the lock.

“Ma-maaa,” Natasha protested, with the most adorable stomp of her foot, which immediately set the lights flashing on her shoes.

Maria laughed, watching her, then finally unlocked the truck and pulled it open. “What do we have here?” She stepped back to let her now hyperactive little see.

“Blanket?” Natasha pulled out a typical red and white checkered one that Maria had bought on impulse, because that was the blanket you were supposed to use, wasn’t it?

“Blanket.”

Natasha handed it to her, then looked again. “Picnic basket!” she crowed, and moved to grab it, but Maria’s hand stopped her. “That’s a very heavy basket, bunny, let mama get it.” Natasha grumbled at her, but something else caught her attention.

“Floats?” she said, taking out the two already blown up rings. One was a fairly basic blue-and-clear float, while the other one was wildly bright pink, patterned with fish and sea creatures.

“Yep,” Maria said with a grin. She reached down and tapped Natasha’s nose with her finger. “For when we go IN the lake.”

Natasha let out another gasp. “We can go in wake?!”

Maria knew Natasha usually didn’t let herself indulge, but Maria secretly loved it when the little girl would babble. She usually only did it when she was upset, after a punishment or waking up from a nightmare. But Maria was learning to cherish the times when Natasha really allowed herself to be a two-year-old, complete with excited baby talk.

“Yes, we can go in the lake. Remember when we went to the mall a couple weeks ago and bought bathing suits?”

She hadn’t really known what kind of bathing suit Natasha would choose, but each of them had gotten two. The first one, a black bikini for Maria and a red barely-there one for Natasha had made them both eager for activities that had nothing to do with swimming.

But the second one, those had been a bit of a surprise. Maria had chosen a simple black one-piece with a splash of silver across the front that oddly reminded her of a SHIELD uniform. And Natasha, who’d stared at the racks of “appropriate for littles” suits for what had seemed like an hour, finally picked out a ruffled “bikini” in the sunniest yellow Maria had never known existed. The big white polka dots scattered throughout made the whole thing even more adorable, and she couldn’t wait to see Natasha in it.

“Yay!” Natasha crowed, and grabbed the blue donut ring from the trunk of the car. “I use dis one!”

“But I got…” Maria trailed off, then shook her head. Pink with sea creatures float it was, then. She couldn’t help but smile.

“Baby bunny, do you think you can carry both the floats while Mama gets the basket and your diaper bag?”

Logically Maria knew that Natasha could carry the floats, the diaper bag, the picnic basket, and Maria too, if she wanted. But the determined look on her little girl’s face as Natasha plucked up the other float was impossibly adorable.

“I got it,” she pronounced, and Maria hefted out the picnic basket before moving around the car to grab the diaper bag out of the back seat. Her hands full, she managed to slide her thumb around the key remote and lock the door, before looking over at Natasha.

“Okay,” she said cheerfully, feeling almost as excited as she knew Natasha did. “Are you ready for our picnic, little girl?”

“Yes, yes please!” Natasha bounced along, her shoes blinking a steady rainbow as they walked closer to the lake. “Mama, what’s in basket?”

“Hmm. Well…” Maria glanced around, feigning an attitude of being secretive, which made Natasha glance at her warily and edge a little closer. “You can’t tell anyone, all right?”

“Not tell _anybody_ ,” Natasha confirmed, and Maria had to fight back a laugh at the sudden seriousness on her baby’s face. Like a junior agent in training.

Maria hesitated, then leaned over to whisper in Natasha’s ear. “ _Junk food._ ”

Natasha’s mouth dropped open. Maria had this thing about Natasha eating healthy, because she knew that if left to her own devices, Natasha usually forgot she was even supposed to eat. So when she did eat, whether she was little or big, Maria made sure it was “that healthy crap,” as Tony called it. Unless it was a special occasion, she and Maria both ate salads or steamed vegetables, and every meat that crossed their plate was usually grilled. They did eat sweet stuff for dessert or even a pint of ice cream after a mission went belly-up, but that was about it. Even when she was little Natasha rarely got pizza or mac and cheese, but at least Maria had learned how to make pictures out of her vegetables, and that made it fun.

But they’ve never, _ever_ had just junk food to eat, and Natasha was now looking at Maria as if she had grown two heads, and those two heads were the most wonderful things she had ever seen in her entire life.

“Junk food, mama?”

“Shhhh,” Maria hissed lightly, determined to keep up the charade. They’d reached an empty edge of the lake, and, thinking it was a good spot, she stopped to sit the picnic basket and diaper bag down. Impulsively she reached out and swung Natasha into her arms; the little girl giggled and dropped the floats onto the grass.

“Junk food,” Maria said again. “Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, soda, and potato chips, and cookies, and _candy_.”

“Mama sick?” Natasha asked dubiously, and Maria started to laugh, which lit up Natasha’s eyes.

“No, you silly girl, Mama’s not sick. But today’s a special day for just you and me, so why shouldn’t we have cookies and candy?”

Natasha wrapped her arms around Maria’s neck and nestled her face into her shoulder. “Best mama ever,” she said, her voice muffled, and Maria dropped a kiss to the top of her head.

“I thought we would swim first,” she said, patting Natasha’s back as she walked a few paces and looked out at all the littles and their caregivers, enjoying their time together. “If we eat first we have to wait an hour to swim, and that doesn’t seem like fun.”

“Swim first,” Natasha agreed, and Maria nodded, setting the little girl back onto the grass.

“Swim first, then eat, then we can feed the ducks!”

Maria reached down for the blanket, intent on spreading it out on the ground, but she paused when another set of hands joined hers. Natasha, as always, wanted to help. It took a little bit more time; when she was in her little mindset Natasha wasn’t very coordinated, a sharp contrast to her older, well-trained self. But Maria didn’t mind. Baby Natasha loved praise, and so Maria simply took her time, directing Natasha with a soft voice, and plying her with encouragement and terms of endearment until finally, the picnic blanket was spread precisely on the ground.

Maria set the picnic basket on it, then asked Natasha, “Ready to get into your swimsuit?”

“Yes, mama, let’s go!”

“Hold on.” Maria reached out and took Natasha’s hand, looking at her pointedly. “You can’t wear a diaper with your swimsuit, and you _can’t_ go potty in the water. So if you need to go, you need to go now.”

Natasha’s brow furrowed as she considered this, then she shrugged. “Okay. But don’t look, Mama.”

Maria obliged and turned away, even if she did roll her eyes a little, still holding onto Natasha’s hand. The baby had easily gotten over her shyness about using her diapers, but Maria guessed being told to do it on command was a little embarrassing. She probably should’ve waited until they were actually in the changing rooms.

Still, after a moment Natasha tugged on her hand, and Maria saw that she had only a slight blush on her face. Luckily no one had been paying attention to them, since everyone was so wrapped up in their own activities. Maria pulled Natasha to her as she grabbed the diaper bag with her other hand, kissing Natasha’s forehead.

“You’re such a good little girl, do you know that?”

Natasha snuggled into her while they walked toward the changing area. “Only ‘cause you tell me, Mama.”

Once in the changing area, Maria quickly found a large stall for her and Natasha to use, glad to see that the place was kept impeccably clean. She helped Natasha out of her shoes, clothes and diaper, using a wipe on her before dressing the little girl in her new bathing suit.

… okay, Natasha Romanoff in a literal yellow polka dot (little) bikini was adorable. There were ruffles on the seat of the bottoms, and a broad ruffle on the top, at the waist. Maria had even gotten her a pair of white sandals with big fabric flowers on the tops, and those combined with the swimsuit and the sweetly uncertain look on Natasha’s face, and… she was perfect.

She grumbled a little as Maria insisted on slathering her with sunscreen, but Natasha knew she was helpless to protest when Mama insisted on something.

Maria loudly smacked Natasha’s cheek with a kiss, and the little girl giggled, watching unabashedly as Maria changed out of her own clothes and into her bathing suit, slipping on a pair of worn but comfortable flip flops.

“Mama?”

“Yes, my bunny?”

“You’re so pretty,” Natasha said, wrapping her arms around Maria’s waist and resting her head on her mama’s chest. “You’re the prettiest mama ever.”

“You’re only saying that because I brought candy,” Maria teased, and Natasha thumped her with her head, making a highly-offended noise. Maria ran her fingers through her baby’s hair.

“Thank you, baby girl. Now come on, let’s go swimming!”

Now the sound that Natasha gave was something in-between a shout and a squeak, a happy noise that Maria didn’t think she’d ever heard, and determined that it was something she _would_ hear again. She’d just have to start coming up with more things that would make Natasha Romanoff so gosh-darn excited. In fact she was so excited that she was tugging Maria through the changing area and out the door, back toward their picnic blanket and the floats that awaited them.

“Okay, hang on, hang on,” Maria said, pulling Natasha to a stop, because she was sure the little girl would have thrown them both into the lake if she had her own way. Maria moved so that she was standing close to Natasha, towering over her as much as their admittedly-slight height difference would allow. She cultivated her voice into mama-mode, and Natasha stared at her, wide-eyed.

“No going away from Mama,” Maria said. “You stay near me at all times. You stay on the float unless you’re in my arms. You can play with other littles if you want, but absolutely no splashing. Got it?”

Natasha nodded firmly, almost as if she was still in the mindset of a SHIELD agent, receiving her orders from her superior. “Got it, mama.”

“Okay.” Maria reached down and picked up the bright pink float that had been intended for Natasha, shaking her head with an amused sigh. “Grab your float and let’s go. The water might be a little cold, honey.”

“At’s okay,” Natasha said, kicking her sandals off onto the blanket. But still, she gasped in surprise when she waded into the lake up to her ankles. “Mama was right, that’s cold.”

Maria laughed. The pool in the tower, one of the things Maria really missed from living there, had always been heated. But Natasha continued to move into the water and so did Maria, shivering a little when it lapped around their waists. But the sun shining down soon warmed them, and though she’d intended on using it to lazily drift around the lake, Maria changed her mind and tossed the pink float back onto the shore, then reached down and lifted Natasha, settling her bottom against the clear plastic.

Natasha shifted around a little until she was comfortable, then beamed at Maria. She cupped water in her hands, dribbling it over her lap and then, with a mischievous glint to her eyes, reached out to dump some straight over Maria’s head.

“Hey!” Maria spluttered over-dramatically. “Did I say you could do that?”

“No!” Natasha laughed, the word ending in a delighted shriek as Maria suddenly took hold of the float’s handles and spun the two of them around in the water.

She swam around the periphery of the lake, letting Natasha lightly splash her feet as the little girl took in everything. The lake was a popular spot for littles and their caregivers, and it was always busy. But it was a place for everyone to relax and be free, to not worry about jobs or bills or anything else that always encroached into life, whether you were little or big. In fact, Natasha looked more relaxed than Maria had thought she’d ever seen her. Her eyes were alternately opened wide and serenely closed, every muscle in her body fluid and at ease. Maybe it was the water, or maybe it was that there was no pretense here, and there didn’t need to be. Natasha was a little. She was a two-year-old baby girl, and she could play in public and be herself.

After a little while Natasha got bored of being in the float, so Maria gladly pulled her out and let her splash happily directly in the water. She held Natasha’s hands and pulled her along as she floated, giving little kicks to her legs here and there, loudly proclaiming, “I swim, Mama! I swim!”

It was strange, too, Maria found herself thinking, the effect that being at the lake was having on _her_. All things considered, she had gotten over her initial surprise at not being little herself, and had taken to her role as caregiver nearly as easily as a duck took to water. There had been quite a few hiccups, sure, but Maria found it all too easy to love Natasha, and to take care of her. Even so, here at the lake, she felt more comfortable than she had in a while. Here, she didn’t have to be anything but Natasha’s mama.

She was brought out of her thoughts by a sudden splash that drenched both her and Natasha, and caused Natasha to yelp in unhappiness. Maria glanced around in time just to see a little boy dart away, laughing uproariously.

“No splashing, please!” Maria called out, and shook the water off one of her hands so she could brush some droplets out of Natasha’s eyes. “That wasn’t very nice, was it?” she said, and Natasha shook her head.

“Didn’t like it,” she grumped, and Maria pressed a kiss to her wet hair.

“Sorry, baby. It won’t happen again.”

It did, five minutes later. The same boy swam away, still laughing, and now Maria found herself looking furiously for the little’s caregiver.

“I said, please don’t splash,” she said, a warning in her voice that made Natasha shiver, though that could’ve been just the water. Maria lifted Natasha back onto the float, intent on moving them both away from the rough-housing little.

Right at that moment, though, said rough-housing little decided to swim _under_ the float and push up, unceremoniously dumping Natasha into the lake. She shrieked as she went down, her head disappearing into the lake. Maria’s hand jerked out, the reflex thanks to her years of military and SHIELD training, and yanked Natasha back above the water.

“You’re all right,” she said to Natasha, “I’ve got you, bunny.”

But whether it was from the shock of being upended into the water, or going under, or unceremoniously being tugged back to the surface, Natasha’s lower lip wobbled, and she burst into tears. Maria’s heart clutched, and she pulled the sodden baby tightly into her arms.

“No, bunny, shh,” she soothed, wading with some difficulty over to the shore of the lake. One of the other caregivers, a grey-haired man with sympathetic eyes, had grabbed the float and tossed it onto their blanket, and Maria nodded at him gratefully.

“That was scary, wasn’t it, little one?” Natasha nodded, still crying against her shoulder, and Maria sat them both onto the blanket. The air was cold now that they were out of the water; Maria pulled the biggest, fluffiest beach towel out of the picnic basket and managed to wrap it around both of them with Natasha still clinging to her.

She noticed, with some satisfaction, that ill-concealed behind a tree, their watery troublemaker was currently bare-bottomed over the knees of what must have been his papa.

Maria rubbed at Natasha and herself, trying to dry both of them, which was really a futile effort since Natasha was soaked to the bone. But the sun would make them dry soon enough, Maria reasoned, and concentrated on gently rocking Natasha back and forth in her arms, whispering soft words into her ears to calm her.

After a few long minutes Natasha relaxed, her discomfort only displayed with a hiccup here and there, and Maria kissed her cheek. “I’m sorry, Natasha,” she said. “I should have been paying better attention.”

“Not Mama’s fault,” Natasha said. “You didn’t know stupid boy try to drown me.”

Maria chuckled and squeezed Natasha tighter. “He wasn’t very nice, but I’m sure he’s not stupid,” she admonished, but Natasha only shrugged. It wasn’t easy for her not to hold a grudge, so Maria decided just to let it go.

“I’m hungry,” Natasha said, which was the perfect distraction, and Maria quickly disengaged from her little girl, making sure she was snugly wrapped in the towel before she moved to the picnic basket.

Out came paper plates and a couple cans of soda, followed by napkins and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches wrapped in plastic wrap. There were several bags of chips, and two bags of candy – one bag of Natasha’s favorite sour gummy worms, and one of Maria’s favorite Skittles. (She will forever be pissed that they replaced lime with apple, but what can you do?) Last but not least, Maria placed a container of homemade chocolate chip cookies on the blanket.

Natasha’s mouth was open, and Maria noted that the little girl seemed to be practically drooling.

“Couple of rules,” she said, pointing her finger at her baby. “You have to eat a sandwich and chips before you can have anything sweet. Only one can of soda. Only two cookies, and you cannot eat the whole bag of gummy worms.”

“Mama, that was more than a _couple_ rules.” Natasha scowled at her, and Maria smoothed the girl’s damp hair away from her face.

“You’re right, it was. But are you going to be a good girl and obey them?”

“Yes, Mama,” Natasha said sweetly, in a tone of voice that told Maria she would definitely be trying to sneak more candy when Maria wasn’t looking.

Oh well, she thought. Let her. As long as it didn’t make her sick. This was a special day, after all.

“Mama, what’s the bread for?” Natasha asked, poking the loaf that was in the very bottom of the basket.

“Well, I know I have a hungry bunny here, but there are a lot of hungry ducks over there.” Maria pointed across the lake, to the crowd of fluffy ducks that clambered around, loudly quacking their need and taking bread right from the hands of the littles.

“Oh, I want to feed the duckies!” Natasha said happily, and Maria smiled.

“After lunch we will.”

“Okay. Mama, what dis?”

“Ah-ah!” Maria lightly smacked Natasha’s hand away from the plain wrapped package that was next to the bread. “That’s for later. It’s a surprise for you.”

“So many surprises,” Natasha sighed in wonder. “Like… like five hundred million thousand surprises.”

“That _is_ a lot,” Maria said, quickly making up a plate for Natasha with a sandwich and chips. “I don’t even think I can count that high.”

Natasha nestled close to Maria as they ate; she was as far into her little headspace as Maria thought she’d ever gotten, and the little girl babbled on about the new toy Tony was building and the playdate she was going to have next week with Steve and Uncle Sam, and could Jemma please please _please_ come play at the house and spend the night, Natasha will be _so_ good, she _promises_ , Mama. Maria was content just to eat and listen, her heart full.

If you had asked Maria Hill years ago, when she was cold as steel and rising through the ranks, if she would ever have this, she would have laughed in your face. And then probably would have gone home and cried herself to sleep, because she wouldn’t have wanted this. But she would have wanted it, so much.

And now… she slipped her arm around Natasha’s shoulder and drew the little girl to her, kissing her cheek. Natasha, all peanut butter sticky and jelly messy, smiled at her.

Surprisingly, she didn’t try to sneak any more candy after her allotted two cookies and a few gummy worms. Maria suspected it was because the little girl was far too eager to play with the ducks, so after she’d cleaned up the picnic blanket and put everything back into the basket, Maria stood up and held out her hand to Natasha.

“Let’s go get changed into our regular clothes, baby girl. We’ll feed the ducks before we leave.”

“Do we have to leave, Mama?” Natasha pouted, dragging her feet a little.

“It’s movie night at the farm,” Maria reminded her. “I think Clint wants us to watch The Secret Life of Pets.”

“We’ve seen that twice,” Natasha pointed out.

“Only because you and Clint like it so much, missy.”

“Yes. Can we get a dog?”

Maria didn’t mean to stop, but she did, so short that it actually tugged on Natasha’s arm a little. “Sorry, baby,” she apologized, leading her into the changing area.

She was quiet while she dressed Natasha, so quiet that she could tell the little girl was getting worried, undoubtedly thinking that she had done something wrong. It was only when Maria saw her lower lip begin to quiver again that she forced herself out of her own thoughts.

She kissed the tip of Natasha’s nose. “If we got a dog what would you name it?”

“Um…” Natasha chewed her lip. “Agent Woof?” She was still looking at Maria uncertainly from the changing table, and Maria gathered her up into a tight hug. Finally Natasha melted into the embrace, her head once again snuggled on Maria’s shoulder.

“I’m sorry,” Maria said again. “I was just thinking about how lucky I am to have my baby bunny.” She pulled back and cupped Natasha’s face in her hands. “I’m not making any promises about a dog, but I’ll think about it, okay?”

They were getting a dog, Maria knew. But there was no reason to let Natasha think she was a pushover _that_ easily. Not yet, anyway.

She’d have to find the right one, first. After all, only a very special dog could be Agent Woof.

Back into their regular clothes and with their bathing suits and towel stowed away in a wet bag, Maria decided to put the picnic basket and blanket back into the car before she and Natasha headed over to the ducks, bag of bread clenched tightly in Natasha’s hand. Maria wanted to tell her that she was crushing the bread, but what was the point? It wasn’t like the ducks would care, and frankly, neither did Maria. It was such a childlike behavior that it made her smile. She’d been doing a lot of that today.

Maria sat on the ground with Natasha on her lap, helping her to open the bag of bread and start tearing it into little pieces, and it didn’t take long for several of the ducks to break off from the others and come over to the two of them, nipping at their hands for food. Maria tried batting them away, but they weren’t hurting either her or Natasha, and besides, it was cute to watch them try to climb all over her baby in their eagerness for the bread.

Before too long, the bag of bread was gone, and Natasha had giggled and chattered so much, she was actually hoarse. Not to mention, she was actually tired. Maria glanced at her watch and noticed that it was already after three, way past Natasha’s usual naptime. She stumbled on her feet as they walked back to the car, and Maria instantly scooped her into her arms.

“Someone is a sleepy baby bunny, isn’t she?”

Natasha said nothing, only yawned, and Maria kissed her cheek again. “Can you stay awake for one more surprise?” she whispered gently. “Just one more, and then Mama will let you sleep on the way home.”

“Uh-huh,” Natasha said, not sounding too convincing, but she opened her eyes as Maria managed to open the car door, and tuck her into the passenger seat. She fastened Natasha’s seatbelt, and stroked her hair out of her eyes.

“Be right back, little one.”

The picnic blanket wasn’t dry, and it wasn’t dirty, so Maria draped it over her shoulder and then reached into the picnic basket, pulling out the wrapped package left in the bottom. She briefly entertained letting Natasha unwrap it, but she pulled the paper off herself. The little girl was tired, and Maria didn’t want to keep her awake any longer than she had to.

Moving back to the passenger side of the car, Maria knelt down. Natasha’s eyes were closed.

“Bunny? Here’s your surprise.”

Natasha looked, and her hands reflexively grabbed for it. The plush duck was made of the softest white Maria had ever felt, with a pastel yellow beak and webbed feet. She wore a light blue bonnet, tied at the neck with a soft ribbon, and draped over her back was a fleecy pink shawl. Natasha fingered the fabric for a moment, then looked at Maria in awe.

“It’s Jemima Puddleduck!” she said with wonder, and Maria nodded.

Maria had loved the Beatrix Potter books when she was younger, having found them at her school library and read them to herself. She’d been surprised that Natasha seemed to love them as well, and seemed to especially love Jemima Puddleduck, even though Natasha’s own nickname was “bunny.”

“I thought maybe you’d like to have her to help you remember when we came here and fed the ducks,” Maria said.

As sleepy as she was, Natasha snaked the arm not tightly clutching her newfound friend around Maria’s neck and clung fast.

“Best day. Best duck, best Mama, best _everything_.”

“Best Natasha,” Maria clarified, tucking the blanket tight around her little girl and closing the car door.

She moved to the driver’s side and buckled herself in, starting the car and readying herself for the hour’s journey home. She smiled to see that Natasha was already asleep, her mouth slightly open and little snores escaping every couple of seconds. She was right, Maria thought. This really had been the best day.

They’d been on the road for less than ten minutes when Maria was alerted to a small hand tapping at her knee. She glanced over; Natasha was only slightly awake, her mouth curled into a pout, her hand still searching insistently for her Mama.

Maria wasn’t too keen on driving without both hands securely on the steering wheel, but still she couldn’t deny Natasha what she wanted, and so she reached down and tangled their fingers together, squeezing lightly until Natasha settled down, asleep once more.

Maria didn’t let go.

 

 


End file.
